“Hear me , O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good. Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. And do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily. Draw near to my soul, and redeem it.” – Psalm 69:16-18

I’ve recently gotten some news that I wasn’t sure what else to do with other than pray, and write about. I guess I’m hoping that if I spread the news of my current situation, blessings will come from it? Doesn’t hurt to try.

As many many many people in my life know, I got back from a trip touring and teaching English in South Korea about 2.5 weeks ago. Before I even left for that trip I was told that I had been nominated for a full-ride scholarship to return to Hannam Presbyterian University (the school that hosted my summer trip) to study in the upcoming fall. So I went on the summer program, not only for the amazing experience but to gain insight into whether I could ‘cut it in Korea’ for 4 months if I accepted the scholarship. After some serious time talking to God about it for the entirety of my month-long stay abroad I came to the conclusion that yes, He would give me the strength to return. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved just about everything about Korea and want to go back so much, but I am also logical and know that 4 months in a culture so different is much harder to swallow than a couple of weeks. So getting the ‘green light’ from Him, so to speak, took a long time to come to and meant a lot to me. Upon getting home I have been working my butt off sorting out details, signing papers, figuring out what classes I could take that would transfer back home, driving back and forth to Cullowhee, and praying praying praying.

Ok, so I’m trying to keep a very long story short and get to the point of this post. As it turns out, the scholarship doesn’t cover all the costs that my university originally thought that it did. I’ll give you the numbers. The grand total of the scholarship per this one semester is $5,500. That may or may not seem like a lot for one semester. But here’s the breakdown of that money: $1,500+ is taken out of that for airfare, $680 goes toward my room fee, and then the remaining amount will go to pay for everything else. Everything else as in, 3 meals a day for 4 months because there is NO meal plan set-up at this university, all my transportation, living expenses such as bed sheets, toiletries, school books (obviously I can’t bring everything with me!), etc. My hope and plan is to be able to save as much of this money as humanly possible while over there (without skimping on necessary expenditures) to pay back some of what I am about to mention…

Ok so now you know what the scholarship covers. What it doesn’t cover is the actual tuition, fees and insurance to my home university, Western Carolina University. This came as quite a shock to me, because for the entirety of the summer I had been with the understanding that everything was paid for. So I have to come up with about $3,000 in roughly 3 weeks. I have a student loan that will cover $1,000 of that amount and a governmental grant that will cover $500, so the number I was told that I would have to come up with purely on my own is about $1,400. I would use my scholarship money, but I won’t receive any of it until the 1st of September, and WCU tuition must be paid sooner. [Not to mention, I am desperate to gain peace of mind before I leave on August 25th]. There is a side of me that almost wants to throw up my hands and say that this is too much and it is not worth the stress of the situation. But after getting all my crying out on my way home from WCU this morning, I spoke to my mother and determined in my heart to turn this red light back into the original green light. I truly believe that God gave me that scholarship and has given me this amazing opportunity to spend time in another country. Not only did He send me there this summer, but while there He opened up the chance for me to get involved in a ministry known as the ‘Christian International Church’ near the campus. So many things fell perfectly into place regarding this opportunity to go back that the shock of this news I received only this week is still jarring. It seems insane that I would forfeit a chance of a lifetime that already has a scholarship of $5,500 paying for it, simply because I didn’t try to find the extra $1,400, right?

It isn’t easy for me, but I am asking for any help possible. I have until August 21st to come up with this money, and I am going to try desperately! If I have to go door to door! If it is God’s will, He will make sure it happens. If anyone reading this feels it in their heart to support me, I will be forever grateful. If you want to send a check, cash, coins, letters of encouragement, or prayers! Absolutely anything will help me. I’m not sure what else to do at this point other than to ask for help and continue to cover this in prayer, since time is obviously not on my side. This is my dream and my hope is that comes true; and I am desperately clinging to a positive attitude! Thank you so much for reading this long and drawn out explanation. What I need now more than anything are prayers of guidance, a sound mind, and blessing. Thank you to everyone who has helped me and supported me from the bottom of my heart.

If you are able to send anything, feel free to send them to the address below or click the “Donate” button if you have a Paypal account:

To: Ms. Rachel Reich 633 Shelton Cove Rd. Waynesville, NC 28785

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” – Psalm 34:17